Family and Legacy
by gigilixch
Summary: Thrown into things bigger than just a Noble lifestyle, Ava Cousland is forced to harden herself to become the Hero the people need. Throughout her mission to stop the Archdemon, Ava finds out what it means to be a Warden, a Cousland. A Hero. A Legend for all. *Later Chapters will be rated M*
1. Chapter 1

_A whisper in her mind, cascading into a deep rumble until it was a shriek. The warm feeling of the air around her turned into a coal heat while a huge dragon walked closer to her, keeping eye contact with her, watching every movement. Being the child to stick to the shadows, she sticked to her stealth capabilities to make a shadow over herself. Taken aback, she realized it did nothing to keep herself from the eye of the dragon. Suddenly the dragon pounced, picking her up and swallowing her whole._

 _()()()()()()_

Slightly shaking, Ava Cousland jumped out of bed. She awoke with a cold sweat and scratched her dogs head. She wasn't about to let a nightmare ruin her day with Ser Gilmore. She planned on having a day with him at the local market, and then sparring later on. He was her best friend at the castle, and her dog, Paws. Of course, this was all thrown from her mind when she heard crashing and banging from outside the family wing. In fact, she only heard screaming and the like all around the estate. She shook her head, looking outside her window to see it was actually night time, not morning. She quickly put on her family heirloom armor and ran out of her room, to see Howe soldiers butchering what was left of the Cousland soldiers not sent to aid the King. Readying to take the men down without any other thought than to avenge the family soldiers, she threw one dagger, landing it in one mans head. She then ran towards the other soldier like a bettering ram, taking him by surprise and knocking him down. She then pointed her free dagger at his throat, just waiting for him to explain what in the Maker was going on.

()()()()()()

I couldn't and wouldn't believe the things going on around me. My home, my family's legacy, all being torn apart by one snobbish, selfish, power hungry man decided so much blood on his hands was worth it to achieve his goals. The Chantry was right with man giving into pride. It truly seems to be the strongest of the demons...

I had to shake my head to get that line of thinking out of my mind. I was going to become a Warden, and Duncan would need me at my best instead of at my worst. However, I didn't know how well that was going to go. First my brothers wife and child killed, and mother and father. If my brother was dead... I didn't know what I'd do.  
There's a part of my mind that says to stay strong, but it seems cliché. To stop myself from going crazy, I go off to be by myself before going to see another Warden, Alistair. Mother always said to take a moment to yourself before getting into the thick of things into the unknown. Or was that another whisper from those dreams?

()()()()()()

After a full hour of sobbing and cradling the necklace from mother, I made my way to the Warden Alistair. Of course, I was taken aback by his... wit. I was expecting a more serious Warden. With all they do, I guess there had to be some comic relief. It wasn't a bother on the whole witty ex-Templar thing, just a bit too immature in my opinion of what a man in his position should be. However, his caring tendencies while we were in battle wasn't a bad thing. In some ways, he reminded me of Gilmore. At the thought, I frowned. Gilmore was dead, along with everything else...

"Ava, look out!"  
I turned around, just lucky enough to jump to the side while Alistair cut down a darkspawn. Afterwords, him, Jory, and Daveth looked over at me.  
"What, did you stop to look at the flowers or something? Always like woman..." Daveth muttered.  
"I'm sorry, I was distracted. It won't happen again." I nodded, agreeing with statement over my blacking out when needed.  
"Well the Wardens need all the soldiers they can get. Don't become a casualty." Jory huffed, taking on the role of being the father of the group.

The men went off to walk a bit behind me, leaving the girl to her own devices. Of course, this gave me more time to think to myself. I had the tendency to be more in my own head than thinking on the battlefield.

()()()()()()

Much to my own prayers to the Maker, we finally came upon the old building with the papers Duncan wanted us to get. "And they're gone. Great." I huffed, rubbing my head to fend off from the growing headache from the day. Nothing seemed to be going as it should.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"


	2. Chapter 2

Morrigan's mother seemed nice to me, even though the men had an uproar about her on our way back to Ostagar. "She's a Witch of the Wilds. Why would she do something like that for Warden's?" Daveth kept repeating.

"What does it matter? Be glad she didn't burn the damn things. We're lucky she had sense and moral." I countered. "Moral? She's a witch!" Jory turned to his left side and spit on the grass.

"And I'm a woman. Would you rather I be referred to as a witch? Don't take things at face value. That will get you an early grave." I muttered. All three men grumbled, keeping quiet. Enjoying my little victory, I was pretty smug with myself. "And now the men are speechless. I love the silence in this triumph."

()()()()()()

When we returned to Duncan in Ostagar, Paws was all more than happy to see me. But being the little traitor he was, he ran up to Alistair and slobbered all over him and gave him kisses. Being suspicious, I remembered that ever since Paws was a pup, he didn't like Howe. Mabari were excellent judges of character, so Alistair couldn't be all bad.

"We will begin the joining now." Duncan declared.

Being the little rogue I was, I looked over at Alistair to see if his facial expression would tell me anything. Of course, all I saw was sadness written on his expression. I stopped, falling behind the group. This is what the Darkspawn blood was for, I knew it.

Alistair looked back at me, raising an eyebrow. "What, got cold feet?" he mused.

I shook my head, giving a light smile. "No, just thinking about how much I'm gonna annoy you once this part is over." I smugly pointed out, walking right by Alistair who again today, seemed confused. I couldn't help but smirk. He reminds me of Fergus.

()()()()()

 _""Join us brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry out the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day, we shall join you."_

Alistair sadly recited. He was telling the Joining oath of the Grey Wardens, and I was seeing first hand that the Warden sacrifice started with actually becoming one. Daveth had dropped dead after drinking the Darkspawn blood (which I was correct about) and Jory outright refused to drink it. Duncan stabbed him, since of course there's no turning back with becoming a Warden. I understood completely why he did it. Once you commit yourself to this life, you cannot be selfish and try to back out. That gives all the Wardens a bad name... Us.

I was a Warden now, and I was trying to process everything after waking up. Apparently I lived to tell the tale of the Joining, and Maker did I have a major headache after that stuff. Again with my infinite curiosity, I wondered what made the original Warden's think, _"Oh, let's drink Darkspawn blood to fight them, this is the way and I know it."_ or maybe Warden Magi did experiments or-.

"Ava? Are you alive? We have to get to the tower, we have to hurry." Alistair shook me from my thoughts, nudging me to get up. Shaking my head of the thoughts flooding my mind, I grabbed my daggers and put them on back in their sheaths. "Let's go. Maybe we'll get some action after all and you won't have to be sad." I laughed, patting Alistair on the arm. He sighed, rolling his eyes while Paws barked and happily followed after me. He always did like killing creatures with me. Especially rats in the kitchens at the estate...


End file.
